Postgame Quotes

OU head coach Sherri Coale• Opening statement:“I was really pleased with our effort. I’m obviously pleased with the balance in scoring, when you have six guys in double figures. I want to tell UC Riverside how much we appreciate the way they play basketball. I think they play a very solid brand of basketball, high IQ basketball, I love it. He runs Coach (Bobby) Knight’s offense about as well as Coach Knight ran it. They do some good stuff. A lot of people screen and move, but not a lot of people read while they do that. His team did. They are very, very difficult to guard. I appreciate our guys’ effort in the challenge of trying to defend them. Offensively, I just think we have a lot of weapons. Hopefully what you’ll continue to see throughout the year are five or six guys in double figures.”

• On the team’s depth performance tonight:“We seem to be [a deeper team]. I was a little disappointed in our production from the bench tonight. Obviously I understand we’re playing a much better opponent than in our two exhibition games. Our bench play wasn’t quite what it had been. We had a few more turnovers; we didn’t shoot as high of a percentage with our guys coming off of the bench. So I want to continue to develop that.”

• On OU’s scoring ability:“Our competition is so healthy. That is what makes us who we are right now, so we have to continue to develop that. This team has the potential to have nine, 10 or 11 deep, who knows? But right now, tonight, I was a little disappointed with the production. As a whole, our bench production can be and needs to be a little bit better. We’re counting on those guys.”

OU sophomore guard Danielle Robinson• On the look of this team:“We just have experience. We returned four out of five starters from last year's team and the two new additions have adjusted really well. I thing our summer was huge for us coming out of last year's kind of disappointment. We worked really hard in the offseason and individual workouts and we came back in August and had a great preseason. I think that we didn’t like the feeling we had last year. Our chemistry is great this year and we just have experience.”

• On feeling more comfortable in her second season:“It was tough adjustment coming from high school to being a college point guard. But now that I have a year under my belt and that experience has definitly helped a lot. In our preseason workouts with Coach Coale, Jasmine (Hartman) and I worked extremely hard and she taught us how to be true point guards.”

• On pushing the ball:“They were very athletic but they didn’t really try to stop the ball in transition. She told us many times if they stop the ball keep running circles around work the offense. I think just pushing them and not letting them relax on defense really helped our offense”

OU senior center Courtney Paris• On the growth of the sophomores:“The biggest thing is just confidence and sureness in what they are doing. I think that comes from the time they put in this summer in getting better and in our individual work that our coaches pushed us through during the preseason. I have always felt we have great players and we can do things. I’ve thought, I’m not sure, but now those young guys are really stepping up.”

• On the confidence of the team:“It’s great, like coach said, five or six of us were in double figures and it is nothing new because it has been there in pick-up and in practice.”

• On the trapping the defense:“We have some pretty good athletes so I just sit back there and see if anything comes over. I got one tip off of it, so that worked out well. I think it is just a combination, obviously I am not going to keep up with D-Rob (Robinson) in the speed of things, but I think what she can do in the front court and I in the backcourt, works well. Mainly in creating turnovers.”

UCR head coach John Margaritis• On Oklahoma offense:“We prayed a lot. We felt like it was pick your poison. Their inside game is so strong that we felt that if we were to allow them to have one-on-one opportunity that they would score. We hoped that if they took the outside shots, that they would miss more. They made their shots.

On Riverside’s offense: “We had to offensively keep up with them and we didn’t. I thought that we ran a good offense, got open and executed but I thought that we didn’t not have enough shots.

UCR senior center Kemie Nkele• On her game aagainst Courtney Paris:“I wanted to see if I could raise to her level of play because she is a amazing player. You can’t come out scared and usually I don’t. I try and review everything that happens in the game. The way they play defense, I knew that I needed to focus.”

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